How did the team Weak Learners become the two-time winners of the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge -By Mukul Singh from IIT Delhi

We came to know about the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge last year when it launched its pilot season. A platform for applying technical knowledge to real-world business problems, E.P.I.C IT was organized by TVS, a big name in the industry. With our prior experience, we were already eager to participate in the second season even before it was launched. The competition’s experience had been an enriching one with numerous panel talks, discussions, live presentations, and an addressal, especially by the CEO. This made it one of the best opportunities our team could get.

Taking one step at a time

The TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge was a robust competition with three rounds - online coding test, idea submission, final presentation. The first time we read the problem statements, we decided upon a clear plan of action. We spent hours and months working on our design prototypes and in the process, published a few research articles and book chapters on the way. We took steps, one by one, and decided to focus on one part of the plan at a time. One of the most challenging phases for us was the implementation. We faced difficulty in bringing out our ideas into a single unit. We had been very specific and detailed with our designs during the planning phase, but eventually, figured out solutions together.

The competition was exciting and full of hurdles. But because of its challenging nature, we had a great time participating in it. Even though the competition went online this year, the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT team ensured that we stayed motivated and thrilled. They sent gifts and food vouchers to the finalists to engage us more and even organized smaller-scale contests to build more enthusiasm.

Overcoming the hurdles on the way

The path to becoming the winners was full of obstacles. The online nature of the competition took away a lot of opportunities for the teammates to meet and work. However, on our part, we did our best to motivate each other and conduct discussions together so that no idea goes unnoticed. The TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT team also provided us with the much-needed support to ensure that our motivation stayed intact. Apart from other reasons, we could solve our conflicts and overcome challenges because we already participated as a team in so many competitions now. And over time, realizing the importance of teamwork, we’ve become really acceptive of each other’s ideas. Conflicts did not become much of an issue, because we always made efforts to reach a middle point that suited us all.

Becoming the National winners

Becoming the National winners was nothing less than a dream come true. We were doubly excited when our name was announced since we had also won the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge last year. Even though the competition went smoothly for us, especially the final presentation, we had some jitters before the announcement of the results. The 10 finalist teams performed really well and it was a very close call.

I think what helped us win the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge was staying abreast with the latest trends in technology. My teammate and I, both are research assistants in IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad. Our research experience helped us ideate and design a system that the jury really liked. In fact, we used IoT and Blockchain in our solutions, and due to their relevance today, it greatly impressed the jury.

TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge was a great learning opportunity for us. From ideating together, doing a lot of research and background studies, to designing systems and comparing their performances from scratch, it was a thrilling yet insightful competitive space. We delved so deep in working on our solutions, that we could even achieve writing a research article on a component of our system. We’d always be looking forward to the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge, since it has made us better in what we do, and endowed us with skills that’ll last a lifetime.

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Mukul Singh - IIT Delhi

2018-2022

Currently a computer science student, also working as a research assistant at CART, IIT Delhi, he has been working in the field of IoT, vision, and applied AI and ML for over a year. Apart from winning the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge, season 2, he was also a part of the team that won the TVS Credit E.P.I.C IT challenge last year.